Haunted Romania – The Poenari Castle
The Poenari Castle is situated on the top of a hill, next to the Arges River, on the border between Wallachia and Transylvania. It is close to the Fagaras Mountains, not far away from the Transfagarasan highway.
The castle was built in the 13th century but, later on, it was abandoned and eaten away by time. Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) was lured by the potential of this castle which was situated on a high steep precipice of rock. That’s why he repaired the castle and made it one of his main fortresses against the enemies in the 15th century. After a while, it was abandoned again and it was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1888. However, some part of it was partially restored.
So Dracula’s castle is not the Bran Castle but the Poenari Castle. Vlad the third, the Impaler, prince of Wallachia was the source of inspiration for the fictional character Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel.
Vlad Tepes was born in 1431, in Sighisoara, a city in the centre of Transylvania. He was the ruler of Walachia for a long time, well known for his successful defense against the Ottomans. He was named the Impaler, because he used impalement as a method of punishment and execution. He used it a lot for the Ottomans too. Ironically, it seems that he has learnt this method from the Ottomans, when he, being only a child, has been held as a prisoner by them. His cruelty became very famous and even the Ottoman invaders were demoralized by it. It was a cruel image for anyone to see 20000 Turkish soldiers being impaled. Vlad Tepes defended not only Walachia and Transylvania from the Ottoman expansionism but also the entire Europe. So, the Romanians have a lot of respect for him, although he was a cruel despot. He died in 1476, in a place close to Bucharest (some say he has been killed).
The Poenari Castle does not have many visitors because although it is the real thing, it is not as famous as the Bran Castle. The visitors are usually Romanians. The Romanians don’t usually go visiting it for finding the bloody demon or because they believe in Dracula’s legend, but because it is page in their history. Anyway the scenery is overwhelming. You have to climb 1850 steps (large wide ones) up the steep hill and for sure, this is a good exercise. You have to be in good shape and it will take you about one hour to reach the castle. This is hard to do even if you have the stairway and the handrails. However, try to imagine how it has been like in the past. You almost had to lay on your face to climb the hill. Try shooting arrows from that angle. It was almost impossible. No wonder they never lost a war there.
Knowing the history and getting deeper into the thick forest, you get chills on your backbone thinking of how many people have been impaled there. Eventually, you get to the top of the hill and you might find what may seem only ruins, but you can’t be disappointed if you look down the hill and see the Arges River that seems so little now and you can even see the Transfagarasan highway which is a masterpiece. This is a place you don’t want to be during the night, even if you don’t believe in vampires or ghosts. There is something spooky about it, probably owing to the history, or the thick forest or the strange silence.
Some years ago, there was a documentary on Discovery Channel about the world’s most haunted places. Enticed by Vlad, The Impaler’ story and all the legends that surrounded him, the Discovery Channel’s team went to visit the Poenari Castle, chasing for vampires or ghosts. While they were in the castle, almost joking about the ghosts that were hiding from them, they suddenly saw some lights climbing up the hill towards the castle. They realized that it was very late, in the middle of the night. Who would go there at such an hour, in the heart of the night? The red lights were not coming from the main path but from impossible paths and they could not see anything causing them. They filmed the lights and even with their high technology, they couldn’t realize what they were dealing with. They panicked and ran away screaming. If some people tried to inspire them with awe, they succeeded without a doubt since it was the first time when they ran away from the “haunted places”.
Legend or not, this is a beautiful place to visit because it’s not crowded, the scenery is overwhelming, it keeps you in good shape, it offers a page of Romania’s history and it gives you chills of fear.
